#FlashbackFriday: He Overcame Multiple Obstacles to Become a 27-Year Exchange Associate

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which began May 1, #FlashbackFriday turns to the Exchange Post archives for a story about a Japan-born associate who became a U.S. citizen—overcoming multiple challenges before he began a more than 25-year career at the Exchange.

Choki Iraha, described in a February 1969 Exchange Post article as “a hard-working and faithful employee,” was born in the early ‘30s in Okinawa. He was 5 years old when his father was killed in a battle at Marco Polo Bridge in China, near what is now Beijing. The fighting between Chinese and Japanese forces is seen as a prelude to Pacific warfare during World War II.

In 1945, when a U.S. joint expeditionary force invaded Okinawa during World War II, Iraha and his mother fled, moving from place to place, staying just ahead of the fighting and stealing food to survive. Within three months, Iraha’s mother was killed. The American Occupation Force took care of Iraha, finding the orphaned tween a job that paid enough to provide him with food and shelter.

But Iraha’s struggles weren’t over. A few years later, when he was 17, doctors determined that he had tuberculosis. He managed to continue his job until he accidentally touched a high-voltage wire during a rainstorm at work. He lost both of his hands in the accident.

After two years of tubercular care at an Okinawa hospital and unsuccessful attempts to find him prosthetics, Iraha, then 19, was transferred Stateside, with the aid of the occupation force. He was first sent to Letterman Hospital in San Francisco, where he received prosthetic hooks to replace his hands. He was then transferred to Fitzsimons General Hospital in the Denver area for treatment of his tuberculosis.

He spent six years in recovery, partly in hospitals and partly at a local nursing home. While he was recuperating, Iraha learned English and passed the time by sketching scenes of his homeland on canvas. At first, he held the paintbrush in his teeth, until he learned to manipulate the prosthetics well enough to use the brush to also paint pictures of the Colorado scenery. He was able to write and to paint pictures of the Colorado scenery. He received training at the Denver Art Academy, with members of a Seventh-Day Adventist Church paying his tuition.

In 1954, Colorado Sen. Ed C. Johnson introduced a measure to provide Iraha permanent resident status. The Senate approved the measure, but Congress adjourned before the House could act on it. A year later, Byron Rogers, a Colorado congressman, re-introduced the bill. In June 1955, President Eisenhower signed the bill, and Iraha became an American citizen. His story ran on national news wires—as did a photo of an Eisenhower portrait Iraha painted out of gratitude.

He found a job at Goodwill, where he worked for seven years. A volunteer there suggested that he apply for a job at the Exchange. He came to work for the organization in December 1965.

When the February 1969 Exchange Post story ran, he was a 36-year-old warehouseman at the Denver Area Exchange. In 1994, he retired after 27 distinguished years with the Exchange. He died on March 30, 2006, at 74 years old.

Sources: Exchange Post archives, Britannica.com, Pacific Citizen, United Press.